Fragile Little Bones
by RorschachZodiac
Summary: The little human batted her hand at the alpha Velociraptor's nose. So small. So weak. But she would grow, and the raptor pack would teach her how to be one of them.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** My first fanfic! I'm messing with chronology here. This is set a little after The Lost World, but there's at least a decade of time between that and the third JP. In this fic the raptors have names based on distinctive attributes, and they're not so much names as details that stick in the other raptors' minds. 'Clever' is a reference to Clever Girl.

Enjoy!

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_Gone. _

On the banks of a river, far inland from the ocean, despairing cries and howls rang out against the pitch black night. Herbivores and carnivores alike made an extra effort to keep their distance, knowing all too well the reason for this mourning. The tyrannosaurs especially kept away, understanding on some level that they were, to some extent, the ones responsible.

The tyrannosaurs, in their fury at their hatchling having been stolen and injured, had pursued the humans far inland. They had not noticed that their path of rampage had taken them straight through the nesting site of the Velociraptors.

_Gone! All gone!_

All of the eggs had been crushed.

Now, several nights after the pale, fleshy creatures-the _humans_-had left the island, the pack still mourned. At first, the humans had been a great feast, having wandered straight into the grass, straight to the raptors. There would be meat to last for weeks, but some humans had escaped. They had gone straight for the compound, and the raptors, still in a frenzy, had followed.

Standing on the riverbank, separate from her pack as they cried into the night, the alpha raptor remembered.

Of her pack, there were now only seven, when once they had been eight. The youngest three, only a few months, had remained at the nest during the hunt and only come after the bloodbath, called by the alpha and second beta. The rest had gone ahead, in pursuit of the remaining humans.

Three had gone. Only two came back. They returned broken, for their inattention had cost the life of the one who'd gone after the human by herself. Two of them had fought each other, when they should have been helping the young one. It shamed the alpha, to know that her mate had been distracted by something so simple as a playfight.

But the mourning had only just begun.

After the humans left, taking with them the buck and the hatchling tyrannosaurs, the pack had returned to the nest, to recover from their loss. As they approached, the air thickened with the smell of blood. They had been alarmed, and then... then they saw what had happened to their nest.

The ground was torn, and the eggs were crushed, crushed by the rampage of the tyrannosaurs as they hunted the humans who had stolen their hatchling. With such provocation, they tyrannosaurs could not truly be blamed, as it was the humans who had come and disturbed the island to begin with. Still... the eggs were gone, and the pack was suffering.

The alpha turned away from the river and stepped back to one of the nest-her nest. There had been only two, hers and her mate's, and that of their betas. Still, with almost sixteen eggs per nest, this was a devastating loss. Gently, she nosed the eggshells, lying cold and shattered in the dirt.

She gave a soft series of clicks, raspy and halting. She had kept composed for the sake of her pack, since her first wailing realization of what had happened. As they howled their pain for all to hear, she kept her sorrow contained.

_Next year._

_There will be more eggs._

_But..._

There was a touch to her neck, and she lifted her head from the broken nest. Her mate had come over, and the cries of the rest were dying down. He clicked at her, and nuzzled her neck a second time. She brushed his side with her tail, and felt just a little better. But only a little.

Nothing could replace these eggs, at least not until next year, next breeding time. Until then... well, it had only been a few days since the humans had left, so the incident was still fresh in their hearts. They would cope, and they would heal. They could not go after the ones responsible-not the humans, far away, and certainly not the tyrannosaurs-so they would just have to keep doing what raptors did best.

Surviving.

There would be eggs again. In the meantime... the alpha raised her head and gave a throaty hoot, getting the attention of the pack. Eagerly they stood, waiting for her word. She was their leader, after all, and they would follow. She had earned her position, by knowing her pack, though her substantial prowess no doubt helped her keep her leadership. She was largest of them all, with the largest claws.

Claws, like the menacing sickles that set the raptors apart. Hers were the largest, sharpest, and so that was how the others saw her.

To all of them, she was Talon.

Her mate was beside her, no doubt already thinking of advice to give her. That was what _he_ did best-he considered what was best for the pack, especially in times of strife, when the rest of them were angry. He was the emotional rock.

He was Clever.

Not far to the side, that was where her betas stood. One of them, slightly smaller, was the last remaining of Talon's nestmates, and she could still remember back when they tussled amongst their brothers and sisters. He was always aggressive, but she had never found that to be interesting. The dark pattern on his back was far more distinctive.

Stripes.

His mate hovered next to him, her eyes dark with pain and anger. It was her nestmate who had been killed only a few days ago, and she was bitter. Talon knew that if the humans were still on the island, she would have gone after them, and none of the others would be able to stop her. She was so much faster than them, after all.

She was Quick.

The youngest three were gammas, and would remain gammas until they took mates. They might live for years and still hold that rank, especially in a pack as small as theirs. Two males and a female, they were waiting for her word with a nervous energy. Talon only looked at them for a moment.

The biggest one, making his odd, perpetual clicking noise, seemed almost unable to contain his anxiety.

Ticker.

Then there was the female, Talon and Clever's hatchling, the one who had suffered an unfortunate burn to her tail, from a brush fire when she was very young.

Burnt.

Lastly, there was the smallest raptor, with the leg lame since birth. A hatchling of raptors who were both now dead, he had been thrown from the nests for his limp. However, he had survived, and Talon had accepted him back after seeing such determination. Still... he was not whole. He had the best sense of smell, but he could not walk right.

Hobble.

All of them waited for her command. They had seen the humans leave, in the airborne metal monstrosities, but there could still be humans on the coast. Talon knew this, and suspected the others did, too. Nosing the air, her tail lashed to the side, and she gave off a short, succinct snarl.

_Find them._

_If they are here, hunt them._

Her pack responded with a cacophony of growls and shrieks, proving that they were ready. Talon pivoted sharply and took off into the underbrush, her pack following behind. They would make their way to the coast, to the thrashing waters, and if the humans were still there, then the raptors would take from them what was taken from the pack.

_Find them! They will take no more eggs!_

The pack surged through the jungle, their howls now filled with a fearsome bitterness, piercing the night and warning all other creatures to stay away.


	2. Chapter 2

Far over the breaking waves, the sun was slowly rising. The horizon had been painted a shade of red more often associated with fresh corpses. From somewhere deep within the jungle, eerie sounds menaced the morning air. However, the beach itself was surprisingly quiet.

A lone compy ran about, picking at smaller lizards. It darted out of the way of an incoming wave and perched itself upon a log. Tilting its head to the side, the small dinosaur regarded the ocean curiously. Something was interrupting the crests of the waves.

Tangled in shredded cloth, a hand briefly broke the surface, flailing desperately before going under again.

The compy gave a high-pitched chirp and darted back into the jungle. Once again, the beach was empty, if only for a few minutes. Carrying its precious burden past the razor sharp rocks, the ocean deposited a tiny, tattered creature onto the sand.

Water was in their lungs. A shudder traveled the length of their body, and they coughed weakly. As soon as they could breathe again, they did nothing but lie still on the warm, scratchy textures of the beach.

So long the water had held them.

So long they had been screaming.

Faces lingered in their mind, distant and muddled. The big thing on the water, it had been tipped over on its side by the waves. The creature remembered someone tying an orange thing around them, only seconds before that person was ripped away by the rope caught around their leg. After that, the little one had been left alone drifting in the violent waves.

At some point, the orange floatie had come off. It'd been tied on in a hurry, and not tightly enough. They had been caught by the water and pulled under. Then, cold darkness, and a heavy, heavy silence.

The little thing had remembered a lesson.

_Follow the bubbles._

So the ocean hadn't swallowed them. They'd fought, fought to stay awake and stay breathing, but their arms and legs were scrawny and small and not enough to keep them above the surface of the water. Who knew how long they'd been fighting, desperate and scared.

Now... now they were back on land. Not really dry, but not so wet that it was choking them. They were safe. Alone, cold, with tattered clothing, but safe from the ocean. They had cuts and scrapes from the wreck, but nothing bad, nothing they really noticed. The only one that hurt was on their head-it throbbed mercilessly. But they were so tired from swimming, from fighting, that they barely noticed.

Lying prone on the beach, curled up in a shivering ball, they closed their eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

_A scent! _

Keeping most of his weight on his one good leg, Hobble called out to the rest of the pack. The sun had risen, but they were still scouring the shoreline jungle for signs of the humans. Just when it seemed that all of them were indeed gone, the lame raptor had caught the faint smell of human blood.

_Human! Human! This way!_

His call echoed through the trees, short and booming, and within moments the rest of the pack burst out of the underbrush and followed the slight raptor towards the beach. Hobble's gait was stiff, but Talon made sure the rest of the pack waited for him. The stench in the air was stagnant-their target was not moving. The pack could afford a little patience.

Determined not to hold up his packmates, Hobble ignored the wincing aches in his ankle and forced himself to move faster. He could never hope to keep full pace with the other raptors, but at the very least he would not slow them down too much.

All of them were starved for blood, and they would not be kept waiting while their prey waited so close.

Burnt came up beside Hobble suddenly, darting close and nipping him on the arm playfully. The gesture was intended to be encouraging, but instead it irritated the weaker raptor. Before his packmate could jump away, he twisted his body sharply and knocked her over with his tail.

Startled by the fierce physical retort, Burnt began to make a move in defense. The brewing fight was spotted by Quick, and immediately she stepped in, snapping down harshly between the two youngsters. Her eyes were slitted darkly.

_Stop,_ she indicated with a hiss. _The enemy is close. Focus!_

For a moment, Burnt seemed to consider disobeying, but a sharp growl from Talon told her that the pack had reached the ocean, and the human was very near. The smell of blood, while faint, still lingered heavily in the salty air. A fervor stirred in each of the raptors as they scanned the beach for their target.

At first glance, their seemed to be nothing on the sand. No metal beasts, no fires, no sounds except for the rumble of the waves. The bloodscent seemed to have no source.

Angry, Stripes spun about and howled at the sky. _Where?! WHERE?_ His frustration was shared by most of the others, with the exception of one. No doubt the adult raptors, the ones who had hunted the humans, were searching for creatures of the same stature. Venturing a few curious steps down the sandy stretch, Ticker noticed something unusual.

It was something foreign, but not exactly like the humans the raptors had hunted.

He breathed in the air, and the breeze carried an especially strong odor of blood. His eye twitching, Ticker looked back at the others and gave a hesitant screech. The call, as always, was marred by his stuttering click, but it got their attention nevertheless.

_On the sand. Blood!_

Slowly, in perfect silence, the raptors moved in on what Ticker had seen. At the front of the pack, Talon motioned with the tilt of a head that the rest of them keep their distance, as the thing before them did not at all resemble the humans. In fact, were it not for the telltale scent of fresh blood, Talon would have assumed the thing was not alive at all.

Drenched heavily in water and salt, it laid still on the beach. No sound, no movement, just stillness. Only when Talon was within a few steps of it did she finally see the slight ripple of the torn fibers near its mouth, fluttering as the decrepit creature breathed.

Such a strange sight... the scent was all too familiar, reeking of humans. However, Talon had never seen a human this small. So pale it was almost white, and very scrawny. If the waves had tossed the creature onto the shore, then Talon had to wonder where the tiny thing came from. Perhaps the other humans had forgotten it, abandoned it?

Behind her, Talon heard Clever step close, giving a throaty rasp. _What is it?_ his posture asked.For once, the alpha's mate betrayed his confusion. Talon lashed her tail once, and then kept it still. She didn't know for sure what the little thing was, either, but it smelled of human blood.

It was that stench that had the rest of the pack, especially the betas, so riled.

_Blood!_ Quick snarled, moving for the creature on the sand. _Human! Hunt them! Make them pay!_

Within half a second, Talon stepped firmly between her beta and the tiny human-thing. None of them knew for sure what the creature was, and the alpha would not have Quick or anyone else attacking it before they had a better idea of what they had found. A sharp shriek was followed by a flinch, and Talon quietly hissed to her mate to keep an eye on the pack.

Clever ticked his head to the side in understanding, and once assured that their quarry wouldn't be ripped to shreds just yet, Talon padded closer to the creature. It certainly smelled of humans, but that was only because of the blood that lightly stained the strange fibers that cocooned it. The human-thing's individual scent was all but completely masked by saltwater.

Slowly, Talon lowered her head down to the sand. The creature's body was only barely bigger than the raptor's head, and remained motionless as Talon nosed it, sniffing it and trying to figure out where it had come from. Seizing onto the hairy mass on the creature's head with her teeth, Talon shifted its head to the side.

So that was where the blood was coming from... there was a deep gash on the creature's head. Blood was caked onto the hair close to the wound, and spattered around the rest of its pale skin. Talon noticed that the little thing's eyelids fluttered faintly as Talon licked the injury.

Then, Talon heard the faintest of sounds come from the creature. A whimper.

A heartbeat later, the tiny human's eyes flew open wildly and it lunged upwards, knocking into Talon's jaw. the raptor stepped back, shocked by the sudden jolt. She swiftly regained her bearings, and realized that the human-thing hadn't been trying to attack her.

Blinking dazedly, the creature coughed. Now it was hunched over, but still almost sitting up. It kept making the whimpering sound, a soft, plaintive cry that hit a tightly strung nerve in the alpha raptor. With a sharp growl, Talon ordered the rest of her pack to stay away.

She finally understood what they had found. The cry, the small size, the scent of human blood... no wonder Ticker had been confused, when he first saw it. It was unlike anything they'd ever seen. However, to Talon, the cries of helpless offspring all sounded the same.

Talon had no idea how it got here, but the creature sitting before her on the sand was a human hatchling.


	4. Chapter 4

( I'm so happy that you guys are liking this! )

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_Ouch._

Waking up was a lot harder than falling asleep. At least when she was asleep, she dreamed, and she didn't feel the throbbing pain in her head, or the aching loneliness. Of either of those things, the loneliness scared her more. She didn't know why she felt so alone.

The headache, at least, made sense. She'd been cut badly, probably by a rock in the ocean. It hurt, and that was one of the reasons she didn't want to wake up. But, of course, she did. When consciousness had returned, she'd been groggy, and her arms and legs had been completely numb. She lay there, not moving, focusing only on breathing.

She'd also, completely by accident, ended up listening, too. What she heard puzzled her.

Snarls. Hisses. Screeches. That didn't sound right at all! She tried moving, but her arms were so sore that she couldn't so much as budge. Instead, she found herself stuck, lying face-down in the sand, hearing these weird noises from all around her.

Not only were they strange, but they were also very, very close to her.

As feeling started returning to her fingers and toes, she realized that one of her arms was pinned completely underneath her body. Well, that explained the pins and needles... she decided it was time to wake up. Wriggling slightly against the sand, she felt a tickle in her nose as some of the grit found its way inside. She would have sneezed, if not for the sudden shadow looming over her menacingly.

She froze. Most of the sounds had stopped, but only because of a very loud, piercing screech. She could feel her head throb painfully as the sound chattered through her bones. Why? Why was it so loud, and why was it right next to her? She would have asked, if she could talk properly. She only knew a few words, _mommy, tickle,_ and _nap_ among them.

For a moment, she forgot the sounds around her and tried to focus on that one word, mommy. Try as she might, she couldn't remember what it was supposed to mean. She knew what it felt like-safety. Still, of the few blurry faces stuck in the back of her mind, she couldn't figure out which one was mommy, if any.

If mommy were here, they would help. She was sure of it. But... she was alone.

Something moved above her. There was a sudden thud, and a large, dark object moved into view. Through barely open eyelids, she could see a foot. It was sort of like her own foot, but much bigger, and sharper. The biggest sharp bit tapped into the sand for a moment, and then the shadow grew darker.

Then, she felt something touch the back of her neck. Slowly her confusion was replaced by fright, and the bleariness in her brain started to clear. Hot breath cascaded down her neck, sticking to her skin like a fuzzy blanket. Fear kept her silent and still, for the moment.

The strange, large shape breathing on her neck moved again, this time grabbing gently onto her matted hair. With a short twist, the toothy shape turned her slightly onto her side. She squeezed her eyes shut, afraid to look at whatever was breathing on her.

Oh... it wasn't just breathing on her. Not anymore. She bit her lip in alarm as something wet and raspy scraped the cut on her head. For a second it hurt, but then the pain subsided a little bit. She wanted the think that she remembered something small and fuzzy licking her in a similar way, except it was barking instead of hissing. Or maybe it wasn't. She couldn't tell if the memory was real or not.

However, the thing licking her now was definitely real. She shivered faintly from alarm, and let out a distressed whimper. All at once, the licking stopped. She could still feel the teeth pressed up against her skin, though.

Her heartbeat thundered in sudden terror. Letting out a sharp squeak, she jumped upwards, rocking back onto her knees. Her fingers were still dug into the sand, but now she was upright, with her eyes fully open. Now she could finally see the toothed things around her.

The one that had been licking her took a step away, rearing its giant head backwards. Both of them were startled, it seemed. She barely let herself breathe as she looked at the thing with the slitted eyes and big, sharp feet.

_Lizard_ and _bird_ were the words that came to mind. She tilted her head to the side curiously, and the movement was mimicked by one of the littler lizard-birds behind the big one. Since she could only count as high as three, in the back of her mind she counted two threes of lizard-birds, plus another one.

The Big One.

Steadily, she noticed the pain coming back to her head. Cringing, she raised up a hand and gingerly touched the cut, feeling it sting at the contact of her fingers. As she coughed and started sniffling from the irritation, the big lizard-bird let out a soft growl.

A few moments later, one of the others, one of the little three, made a chirping sound and started walking towards her. She stiffened, not sure what it was going to do. Within a few seconds it was joined by a lizard-bird with dark stripes on its back. Both of them were making sharp clicks and snarls, sounds that made her feel uncomfortable.

She started crying.

For a heartbeat, the two lizard-birds stopped, surprised by her voice. Then the stripy one let out a loud, booming screech, lowering itself closer to the ground and glaring at her with slitted eyes. It started moving much faster, before suddenly being stopped as The Big One rounded on it and hissed harshly.

Watching the smaller two lizard-birds flinch back, heads bowed, a word popped into her head, suggested by the actions of The Big One.

_NO._

She was vaguely aware of a few more snarls, ones that sounded angry and frustrated, and amongst all of them The Big One stayed poised in between her and the rest of the lizard-birds. With how The Big One stood there, like a tall, scaly wall, another word came to mind.

_Safe._ In her head, the word still fit best with the word _mommy._ The Big One was there, protecting her from the angry lizard-birds, keeping her safe.

So that's what a mommy was!

Reaching her hand out towards the long, thick tail sticking out over her head, she tried to get up on her knees and promptly fell face-first into the sand again. Her legs were completely numb and sore, unable to support her weight. As she fell, she let out a frightened squeal.

_Mommy!_

Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw The Big One-the mommy-turn around, just as she hit the sand. Swallowing some of it, she coughed it out harshly and tried to sit up again. The Big One's feet came close to her, digging into the sand. They were sharp, and scary, but... they _had_ been keeping her safe. She hadn't felt safe since she'd been tossed so violently into the waves and had her head smashed against a rock.

Her eyes were stinging with little salty droplets, and she suddenly felt scared again. An agitated whimper found its way up through her lungs and throat. The Big One let out a curious hiss as their shadow loomed over her again.

When they were close enough, she dove forward and wrapped her arms around The Big One's legs.

Trembling, she squeezed as tightly as she could, determined to never let go. She was safe, after all. Over and over, that word repeated in her head, and best as she could she tried to say it. It came out as a weak mumble, lost even to her own ears as she pressed her face into the warm, scaly texture of The Big One.

_Mommy, I'm scared._

_Please keep me safe._


	5. Chapter 5

Things had started going badly when Burnt and Stripes ignored her order and made an attempt for the human hatchling. Talon had stopped them swiftly, but that peace had only lasted for so long. The situation had only deteriorated further when the hatchling decided to latch onto Talon's leg, just like a leech. The alpha raptor's first instinct was to shake it off, but it kept making those helpless cries.

For that reason and that reason only, she resisted the urge to rip the hatchling off her leg with brute force. However, she couldn't exactly let it _stay_ fused to her leg... it was already difficult enough to keep her pack in line. This strange assault on Talon's limb might be enough to push them over.

But still, how to get it off? The hatchling had been oblivious to Talon's hiss of surprise, and was now repeating the same series of muffled sounds, over and over. The noises were soft, tumbling together and making absolutely no sense. A murmuring sound, then a longer, yawning noise, then the murmur again, then a sharp high pitch. Too complicated. Why couldn't humans just demonstrate their thoughts with a hiss and a movement? Then again, if the fleshy creatures had anything resembling a mind for efficiency, then they wouldn't have been so easy to hunt...

The alpha raptor could puzzle over flawed human instincts later. In the meantime, she had to decide what to do with this awkward situation. If she kicked the hatchling away, it might not let go, and would most likely get cut by Talon's claws. She could bite it, and yank it off her leg, but then it would probably die. And if she let it stay there... well, her packmates were already infused with painful anger.

With human flesh and blood so close to their teeth, not even their alpha would be able to keep them in check for long. No, at the very least Talon had to show she was in control of the hatchling, and she would start by detaching it. Carefully.

Talon remembered her hatchling, Burnt, after she had suffered the wound on her tail. While healing, as she slept she occasionally woke up in a terrified panic. The fire invaded her mind at night, and after she awoke Talon would soothe her with a soft, purring snarl.

Tapping her nose against the hairy mass atop the human hatchling, Talon recreated the sound that had comforted her own offspring in the past. As she growled, she bit into the torn fibers on the pale hatchling's back, and started to pry it off.

_Hmm. Not it. Her. Yes... her._ Upon closer examination of the hatchling's scent, Talon was able to recognize the mellower base odor of females. So, a lost female human hatchling, one that seemed determined to remain attached to the raptor's leg.

No wonder the rest of the pack stood by in utter confusion...

With a bit of tugging, and a continuous low snarl, Talon was able to mostly dislodge the hatchling. The little female was reluctant at first, but finally let go and tilted her head up at the alpha raptor. Unlike the rest of the humans the raptors had encountered, this fragile infant seemed unafraid of them. Or at least, of Talon. As Clever approached hesitantly, the hatchling shied away from him, still clinging onto Talon's leg with her own.

Clever leaned to one side, trying to get a better look at the hatchling. He then glanced at his mate and gave a puzzled click. _What... do you intend to do with it?_ The gray-scaled raptor could tell that Talon didn't intend to kill the hatchling - no, instead she'd soothed it with that lulling croon. Clever wished he could understand what she was thinking.

Keeping one eye on her restless packmates, Talon swiveled her head around to face Clever, bumping him with her nose. Her hiss was quiet as she told him, _This hatchling does not belong to the humans who destroyed our unhatched ones. Her scent is wrong._ In having nothing to do with the human invaders, the tiny creature did not deserve the pack's anger. Not to mention, at her size, she would barely feed a single raptor... _She is alone,_ Talon continued. _Weak. You can see she will not survive on her own. _

Finally, Clever understood his mate's intentions. If anything, he was even more confused. His neck arched back in shock, and it unnerved the rest of the pack to see him so startled. They began to protest loudly, demanding a reason for why they weren't allowed to destroy the tiny human, but Talon silenced them with a sharp screech.

Clever was not so easily calmed.

_It is still a human!_ he snarled. _It is not one of our own hatchlings!_ The thin red feathers lining the back of Clever's head bristled, and in a rare moment of pure frustration he snapped at his own mate. His teeth cut through the air only inches from Talon's face. _Talon, a human cannot replace our little ones!_

For a moment, Talon stood completely still, her eyes narrowed in anger at the reaction of her mate. It seemed as if she might relent, and accept Clever's reasoning. She didn't disagree with him - the loss of an entire clutch of eggs was not a pain easily mended. So easily she could have given into her predatory instinct. The tiny human's stubby, fleshy claws still trembled and clung to the raptor's leg. With just a twist of her foot, she could drive her sickle claw into the hatchling's side and kill her.

The hatchling's whimper was all the persuasion Talon needed to make the other choice. The sound was strangely articulated, just like all the sounds humans made, but the distress in the hatchling's voice was exactly the same as the plaintive cries of every helpless hatchling.

Prey. Tyrannosaur. Raptor. Human.

All the same.

Clever may have been adamant about treating the lost hatchling like any other weak human, but Talon was just as persistent. Straightening up to her full height, she glared viciously at her mate. _I know that nothing can replace the dead!_ Her snarl was tainted with venom. Talon turned her head to the rest of the pack, who flinched at the bitter anger in her eyes. Her teeth were bared threateningly, and her command was coarse and final.

_Enough hatchlings have died already... if one of you tries to kill her, I will see it as a challenge against __**me. **_

When Talon fell silent, her pack was silent as well, shocked by their alpha's declaration. In any situation, to openly defy their alpha would be to challenge her dominance, and she would not hesitate to fight them in order to secure her place as leader of the pack. Now, she insisted on defending a _human_ hatchling... a creature of prey, and an enemy.

If Talon had just said that any threat to the hatchling would be seen as a challenge against her rank, then the rest of the pack might have been infuriated into rebellion on the spot. However, they were held in silence and stillness by the first part of her command. Slowly, but surely, the hostile tension in the air began to diffuse. Even Clever relaxed - he wasn't about to defy his mate, not when she was right.

Enough hatchlings had died already.

Curiously enough, in all the commotion the hatchling had actually stayed very quiet. She let out a faint squeal, the first sound to interrupt the numb silence. Apparently she'd decided that poking Talon's leg was a worthwhile experience. Making sure not to alarm her, the raptor turned back to look at the little human. Once again Talon noticed the gash on her head, and the blood coagulating around it. The wound would heal, but it would definitely leave a scar.

_...Hmm._ Talon paused for a moment, and then curled her lip back in amusement. Lowering her head, she sniffed in the scent of drying blood. She was not going to leave the hatchling out here alone, but if Talon was going to be keeping her in the pack, then she needed a name. _Yes. I think this one will fit well. _Snarling softly, but loud enough for the pack to hear, Talon gave the hatchling her name.

_Little one, we will call you Scar. _

The raptor doubted the hatchling could understand Talon's tone, but she glanced up all the same. Digging her upper teeth - dull and blunt, but that could be fixed - into her lower lip, the little one suddenly reached up and batted at Talon's nose. In the touch, the alpha raptor could feel how fragile the hatchling was. Her bones and muscles were weak, but she would grow. It would take time, but Talon knew how to be patient.

Eventually the rest of the pack would come to accept the newest addition to their numbers. They would help teach her, show her how to be a predator. Scar was so small now, but she would grow. The hatchling was not a _human _anymore. She would be strong, and she would become a raptor.

Clicking soothingly, Talon bent into Scar's touch and brushed her nose against the hatchling's cheek. Her happy squeal was almost identical to that of a newly hatched raptor, and Talon felt her heart lighten. She felt her sorrow for the loss of her unhatched clutch slowly begin to fade away. Oblivious to the raptor's thoughts, the hatchling wrapped her arms around Talon's head.

_Scar, _Talon hissed softly, closing her eyes and breathing in the little one's scent. _You are our hatchling now. We will keep you safe. _


	6. Chapter 6

While neither of the betas seemed very happy with Talon's decision to keep the hatchling with the pack, the youngest three raptors couldn't help but be curious. Burnt was the most confused - after all, she hadn't expected her mother to be be so accepting of the tiny human. She thought the pack was going to get to kill it, even though it was tiny and weak and wouldn't provide any sport at all. Still... the hatchling, now named Scar, had piqued her interest.

Glancing over to her fellow gammas, Burnt hissed to them and asked what they thought of the newest addition to their pack. Ticker narrowed his eyes, looked once at the human hatchling, and answered with a snorting huff. _She'll get trampled by the prey-beasts. Humans don't know how to hunt!_ At least, most of them didn't. There was that one human who'd taken down the bull tyrannosaur, but there were always exceptions in a species.

Hobble seemed to guess what Ticker was thinking, and clicked, _If alpha wants to keep the hatchling, then she won't be a human anymore. We'll teach her how to hunt!_

Ticker bobbed his head to the side, his forearms claws grasping at the air distractedly. _You're excited about this,_ he stated simply. He shouldn't be that surprised, really. The human hatchling was fragile, and helpless, with no claws or teeth. However, if any of the raptors were going to be hopeful about her chances of survival, it would be Hobble. After all, no one thought _he_ would survive, with his limp.

The lame gamma curled his lip back, hissing at Ticker defensively. Hobble was nervous about how the hatchling would function in their pack, but at least he was willing to accept Talon's judgment without much complaint. It was the least he could do to support her choice... all three of the youngsters could already tell that Stripes and Quick would be giving Talon enough hassle. They, out of all the pack, had suffered the most in the wake of the human infestation.

It would take time for Talon to convince the betas to accept the new hatchling. Until then, Hobble suspected that the pack alpha would have to keep a close eye on the human... despite the warning Talon had given, somewhere along the line one of the raptors was bound to make a move for the hatchling. Perhaps not an attack with intent to kill, but an attack all the same.

Trying not to think too hard about the pack betas, Hobble cocked his head to the side and clicked at Burnt. She had asked them what they thought of Scar, but she'd stayed quiet about her own opinions. Hobble wanted to know what she thought was going to happen to the hatchling. Burnt considered her own question in silence, her tail twitching with anxiety. _I don't know,_ she finally hissed to Hobble, _but if Talon wants her to survive... I guess I'll help. She's right... we __**have**__ lost too many hatchlings. It'd be a waste if the human died now. _

As Hobble and Burnt quietly discussed the fate of the hatchling, Ticker stood farther away, closer to the older raptors. He tried to listen to his fellow gammas, as well as the cold, frustrated snarlings coming from Quick. Ticker could tell that Stripes was angered, too, but he was staying quiet. His mate was not. Her tone was bitter, and she glared at the human hatchling with a feverish hatred. Talon stood firmly between her betas and the hatchling, who had since detached herself from the alpha's head. For some reason, that motion stuck out in Ticker's memory - human arms seemed so useless, with no claws and little muscle, and all the hatchling used them for was to grab onto Talon.

Was the gesture one of neediness, or was it a laughably feeble attempt at an attack? Ticker snorted, puzzled. If the hatchling survived long enough, maybe he'd figure out her bizarre mannerisms. Hopefully she'd start acting more like a raptor at some point...

_And if human hatchling does not learn to hunt? What then?_

Ticker glanced behind him upon hearing Burnt's hiss. She sounded curious, but devilishly so. Her eager posture told Ticker that his packmate was hoping that the human hatchling - Scar - would become prey if she did not adapt. Ticker couldn't imagine it being otherwise, the pack still needed to eat. Even Talon, in her state of mourning, had to realize that. At the moment, Ticker was more worried about the betas, and how they would cope with such a small, weak, strange human in their midst. Perhaps they would only see prey, despite Talon's warnings.

Curious. The way the human hatchling clung to Talon's limb. She was a very soft-looking creature, with not much strong muscle. She was mostly bony joints and wobbly flesh with bits of fat. Her skin was like the lighter-colored trees on some areas of the island, all blotchy with bruises and little specks of blood. How would she survive at all? Ticker had so many doubts.

Creeping forward, Ticker looked for an opportunity to speak. For the moment, Stripes and Quick seemed disgruntled and opposed to discussing the matter further with the alpha pair. They were stalking off back toward the trees, hissing and swiping at each other and altogether ignoring the strange little hatchling. Ticker, meanwhile, did the complete opposite. He could feel Talon watching as he approached, her slitted eyes bearing down on his neck. The young raptor just wanted to get a good look at the little thing. He wanted to touch it. What did it feel like?

He made sure to move slowly, lowering the bulk of his mass to the ground so as not to appear so large and intimidating. As he grew closer, he got a better look at those pieces of second-skin on the hatchling's body - they really were detached, weren't they? What was the purpose of skin and scales that did not hold fast and protect against harm? Ticker wondered if Hobble and Burnt were coming to look at the human hatchling now, too. He didn't bother to look over his shoulder and check. Instead, he just brought his head closer to the hatchling.

It looked at him and let out a garbled squawk, ducking behind Talon's leg. Overhead, Ticker heard Clever hiss in rapid succession. _It seems the hatchling does not appreciate you as she does Talon,_ the alpha male said, his tone bordering on mocking. Ticker winced. He was going to have so many new siblings in the nests! But then the humans took the Tyrannosaur hatchling, and the Tyrannosaurs stormed through in a rage and crushed the siblings-that-could-have-been. Ticker wanted to have little, tiny squeaking siblings. He was so used to being the tiny, squeaking one.

He paused. Squeaking! Maybe that would work.

Stepping around Talon, Ticker cocked his head at Scar, and she mirrored his movement. Despite the fact that her snout was... not a snout at all... it was all flat, really, except for that odd little soft beak... despite the fact that her _face_ was so different from the raptors, Ticker could tell that she was curious. Good! She was already learning. Now to try and make her not be so scared.

Ticker clapped his throat, and a soft click-chirp passed by his fangs. He made the sound several times at different pitches, and soon enough Scar started responding with body language that didn't resonate fear. At first Ticker thought she was baring her stubby little teeth at him, but he doubted that was the case. Her lips were curled up all the way in a curve, and she was making a high-pitched rumble kind of sound. Her whole body even quivered a little. Overall, Ticker was getting an impression of _happy-safe-good_ from the hatchling. Craning his neck up to look at Talon, he curled his lips back and gave a rattling click-call. The alpha responded in kind, obviously impressed by how quickly Scar had taken to him.

Bobbing his head a few more times to keep Scar entertained - and she even started following the movement a little bit - Ticker took a step back and straightened up to look at his alphas. _Talon... do we take the hatchling back to the nests?_ he chirped.

Nudging Scar gently with her claws, Talon leaned over and seized on the hatchling's second-skin with her teeth, pulling her out and sitting her down in the sand. Scar seemed very confused by this, as she just sat there staring up at Talon for a little while. Out of the corner of his eye, Ticker noticed that Burnt and Hobble were taking this opportunity to smell the hatchling. Hobble even made an attempt to nuzzle Scar, but withdrew quickly, shaking his head and snorting in what Ticker assumed was disgust.

Clever hissed at Hobble, and the youngling ducked his head obediently. Talon observe the scene patiently and then turned her attention to Ticker. _Yes,_ she motioned, _we will take her to the nests. I have sent Quick and Stripes to fetch what is left of the prey we killed last night. We shall see if the little one has a taste for blood and ribboned flesh._

Now, Burnt decided it was her turn to speak. _What if the hatchling will not eat?_

Talon's answer was brutally simple, and her eyes betrayed no sign of regret or anxiety about what she told the younglings. Ticker privately suspected that Talon was uneasy with the prospect, having lost so many already, but this was how life worked. _If she does not eat, she will starve. It is simple as that. She will be like the born-hatchlings who do not learn to hunt, and die. Now come. To the nest._

Clever took the lead, sprinting off into the trees and waiting at the edge of the beach for the younglings. Hobble and Burnt, still not quite knowing what to do about the human hatchling, hurried after the alpha male. Ticker lingered near Talon and watched as she nudged Scar, trying to get her to stand on her wobbly excuses for legs. The hatchling just kept falling over, and eventually Talon seemed to give up. Clasping her jaw around the hatchling's shoulders, the alpha raptor picked up the tiny human and began to trot after her mate. Ticker noticed that Scar squirmed in discomfort as soon as she was picked up, but she settled down after a little while.

Human skin wasn't as strong as raptor scales. Were Talon's fangs piercing the hatchling's skin and drawing more blood? Ticker didn't ask, but Talon was so adamant about keeping the human hatchling... she wouldn't do anything to harm Scar. She had lost too much. They all had.

Ticker wasn't sure about everyone else, but he thought Scar would be good. It was understandable why the betas were so opposed to keeping the hatchling, though his fellow gammas were making an effort. Ticker had heard that a human had brought down the bull Tyrannosaur, and if they could do that, it meant humans were resourceful in some way. Even if deprived of their bright sticks and little pebbles that burrowed into the flesh and caused pain, Ticker was sure they could do something. He hoped Scar would prove him right.

She was so tiny, so young. She couldn't properly be counted as a human yet, just a squishy version of one.

_Surely_ she could become a raptor, provided she didn't die right away. She had so much to learn - how to track scent, how to chase, how to call, how to kill. Humans were so un-sharp. Maybe here would be another way to teach Scar how to hunt. After all, Hobble was a useful hunter. He couldn't chase as well or jump as high, but he was an excellent tracker and was able to stay unnoticed when other raptors would have been sensed by the prey. If Hobble could be a good hunter, Ticker was sure that a human hatchling could, too. It wouldn't be easy.

The hatchling would get many more scars than just the one that was responsible for her name.


	7. Chapter 7

( I love all you guys. Thanks for the great reviews! I'll be honest, I'm not entirely sure where this story is going, but it's still fun to write, even if my updates are sporadic at best. I'll try to keep a better handle on updates, but I haven't forgotten this story! I like it too much to let it die, and that would be unfortunate for the people who enjoy it. I understand the feeling of not seeing stories updated. I'll try not to be one of those people who lets a story die. )

/-/-/

She was being carried. She liked it.

The Big One - the Mommy - was carrying her in her sharp mouth. They were moving through darkness and sometimes brightness, and every time she tried to look around she saw big things. Big trees. But the bumping... the bumping made her neck hurt when she lifted her head up, so she just let Mommy carry her. She wondered where the other bird-lizards were. She didn't like them. They were bite-y, like a furry thing that she remembered. That furry thing made barking sounds. She didn't like it at all.

When Mommy hissed at the other bird-lizards, she felt safe. The hiss meant that Mommy was protecting her from the bird-lizards that wanted to bite her and hurt her. Mommy was safe. Mommy even made hissing sounds at her, but she didn't know what they meant. There was one sound she was thinking about in her head. It sounded like _sss-kaaar_.

She tried making the sound on her own. "Sss. Sss-ka. Sss-karrr." It didn't sound like it was all the way on her tongue, like the sound wouldn't leave her head and make itself hear-able. She didn't like that. She would have to... patience? That was one of the words in her head, from that place she couldn't remember. She remembered _please_ and _patience_ and _practice._ They all started the same way in her head, so they meant the same thing to her.

If she wanted to sound like Mommy, she would have to please-patience-practice the hissing. And the growling. And all the other sounds. She liked _sss-kaaar_ the best, because when all the bird-lizards made that sound, they seemed to be looking at her. When Mommy first made that sound, Mommy was looking at her. So maybe _sss-kaaar_ meant _her_. Maybe _sss-kaaar_ was her word, like how Mommy was Mommy's word. She wondered if the other bird-lizards had their own words that belonged to them and no one else.

_Sss-kaaar_. It was hard to get right, so she tried making it shorter. "Sska," she started. "Sskr. S-k-aa-r. Skar." _Skar._ She liked it. It was _her_ word. It was close enough to the sound that Mommy made, right? Mommy made rumbling sounds. She was making one now, and she was slowing down, too. Skar didn't know why - she liked it when they were moving. Maybe Mommy was talking to the other bird-lizards? There were... one... two... two of them close by. Skar remembered what _two_ meant. But if she was also thinking about Mommy and Skar, then there were four. Four meant Mommy and Skar and the other ones.

Skar twisted her neck and tried to look. Nearby, there was a smaller bird-lizard, with lighter colors than the rest. That one was the one who made the _tick-tick-tick_ noise. Skar liked that one, and she squealed, trying to get the _tick-tick-tick's_ attention. At the sound of her squealing, he looked at her, tilting his big bobbly head. This time he only made two ticking sounds, so Skar changed his word in her head. Tick-Tick. That was about right.

Skar, Mommy, Tick-Tick. And the one Mommy was rumbling at now. That one liked to stand close to Mommy. He was big, but he seemed safe. Skar tried to think of the word that went with Mommy, but didn't quite mean Mommy. Daddy? Was that it? It sounded right, so she decided to use it. Skar, Mommy, Tick-Tick, Daddy. That was four. And there were the others, another four. Two fours. Eight? Was that eight?

Skar wondered what words belonged to the other four. Two of them, the bigger two, scared her. They snapped and tried to bite and made rough sound that hurt her head. She wasn't sure about the smaller two. One of them was wobbly, and the other one... a girl? A girl like Skar and Mommy? She had something wrong with her long part - her tail? - a spot that was black and made her look funny.

Wobble. Black Spot. Skar decided those were the names for the smaller two. She still had no idea what it meant when the bird-lizards made noises at each other, but for the moment that was okay. Skar understood that she was safe. The other big two, the ones that tried to bite her, made her feel unsafe, but with Mommy there they couldn't do anything. Skar let her mind wander for a moment as she tried to figure out the words that fit with the other big two.

After a little while, and a little more running and being carried by Mommy, Skar had a good idea for the last two names. The one with all the straight splotches on his back, he was Bite. And the other one, the one who was faster than the others, she was Hurt. Bite and Hurt, because that was what they wanted to do to Skar, but also because that seemed like words that would go well with what they were. Bite wanted to bite things, lots of things, not just Skar.

And Hurt... Skar wasn't sure, but Hurt seemed like she wasn't whole. Kind of like Skar. Like something was missing. All the bird-lizards seemed that way. Skar could feel it - anger and hostility, but there were slumped shoulders and glances at the ground that made her think of something called sadness. Something was missing. And now there was Skar. Somehow, she was making the missing-feeling worse for the bird-lizards. It made her uncomfortable.

Mommy stopped running for a moment. Skar looked around at the unfamiliar plants around them, and listened to the harsh growling sounds from Daddy. Tick-Tick was also there, and now the other small ones had joined him. They were making sounds together, and as Skar watched they glanced back at Mommy, Daddy, and Skar and then ran off into the trees. Not long after, Mommy and Daddy started running again, toward the same place Tick-Tick and Wobble and Black Spot had gone.

_Mommy, where? Where we going?_ Skar let out a squeal, but neither Mommy or Daddy noticed. Instead, Daddy plunged into a wall of green, and a moment later Mommy followed. Leaves scraped against Skar's face, and she closed her eyes instinctively to protect herself. In the darkness she felt the running continue for a moment, and then Mommy stopped. At first Skar didn't open her eyes, but when she heard clicking sounds from the other bird-lizards - and when Mommy didn't start moving again - she opened her eyes.

All the bird-lizards were now in the same place. The trees still surrounded them, but the place where the bird-lizards now stood was open, with water rushing nearby. There were indents in the ground, too, with dirt built up around the edges. Mommy took a few steps forward and set Skar down slowly, lowering her into one of the indents in the middle of the clearing. After setting Skar down, Mommy lifted her head and made a loud rattling call. Daddy and Bite bobbed their heads, clicked twice, and darted off into the jungle.

The other bird-lizards stood about uneasily, and Skar noticed it right away. They all kept looking at her, twitching their heads between Skar and Mommy. They kept away from the indent where Skar sat, almost as if Mommy was keeping them back. Skar couldn't tell why. All she'd noticed so far was there were smooth curved things in the indent - there was a word for it, wasn't there? A bed? - that were captivating her more than the bird-lizards. Shells... that was one of the few words Skar knew. Shells, like the kind on the beach. Picking up a few pieces, Skar held them and felt the smoothness on one side, and the roughness on the other. She had no idea what they were, but they were fragile, a little like Skar. Squeezing her hand a little, Skar quickly discovered that she could crush the smooth things. As soon as she did, she let out a squeak of alarm and dropped them. She didn't notice the sudden spike in tension, particularly from Hurt.

All Skar noticed was Mommy nudging her head with her snout, biting at the shredded clothes on Skar's shoulders. Skar wriggled, pushing her hands and feet into the warm dirt in the bed, crumbling more of the shells. All of a sudden she heard a harsh screech, the kind she'd already heard from Hurt. Crying out, Skar flattened herself into the bed. Overhead, Mommy snarled, and Skar watched fearfully as Hurt tried to lunge forward. In a flash, Mommy stepped between Hurt and Skar, her posture bristling.

It was like at the beach, and Skar didn't like it. Eyes fixed on the ground, she looked at the shells scattered around the bed, and immediately she scrambled away from them, trying not to break any more. Whatever the shells were, Hurt didn't like it when Skar touched them. She let out a distressed cry, tumbling backwards out of the bed and away from the shells, away from Hurt. Mommy's head swiveled around at the sound of Skar's voice, but she did not move. Instead, it was Tick-Tick who came over to Skar. His voice trilled, and he lowered his head down to Skar's, making his ticking noise as he did so. The sound was soft, soothing... safe.

Wobble and Black Spot stood on the edge of the clearing, not making any moves towards Skar or Mommy and Hurt. Skar tried to ignore the snarling sounds from Mommy and Hurt, and she kept her eyes on the other small bird-lizards and her eyes open to the sound of Tick-Tick. Within a few minutes she started relaxing again, shuddering in the dirt and leaves that lay just outside the bed. As she calmed down from Hurt's almost-attack, Skar started to think about Daddy and Bite. They were gone, right? They'd left, disappeared into the green. Where were they? Were they coming back?

Tick-tick trilled, Mommy and Hurt snarled. Skar closed her eyes and whimpered. Some moments she felt safe... then, she wasn't. Mommy was protecting her. Mommy was there, and Skar knew that should mean everything was okay. Why wasn't everything okay? Why did Bite and Hurt want to do those things to Skar? She started crying silently. She knew so little, but she did know what it meant to be scared and hurt. All the bird-lizards felt like that, in one way or another. Skar was part of it, and so were the shells. What were the shells? Why did it make Hurt angry when Skar touched them?

Skar was saved from trying to think in terms of more than three syllables by the sound of hooting in the trees. Tick-tick shadow on the ground moved, and Skar followed it. Lifting her head up, she tilted her head to the side just like the bird-lizards did. Ahead of her, on the edge of the clearing, the green rustled slightly. A heartbeat later, Daddy and Bite appeared, both carrying things in their mouths. They walked over to the center of the clearing, to the bed that Skar had been sitting in, and dropped the things next to Skar.

As soon as she breathed in, Skar wrinkled her nose and gagged. She didn't like the smell... no, she didn't like it at all. The red, gushy thing that Daddy and Bite had come back with had bits of dirt and leaves and twigs stuck to it, and there were several flies now buzzing near it, too. Yet, despite Skar's displeasure at the smell, her body seemed to understand its importance. Her stomach growled, reminding her of the light-headed dizzy feeling that had been quietly lurking just outside her attention span. There was a word for it... _ungy?_ No, _hungy_, that was it.

Mommy gave a throaty growl. Skar glanced up at her and saw Bite going over to Hurt, nudging her away from Mommy. Hurt dipped her head and fixed her eyes on Skar for a moment before looking away. Skar looked away as well, turning her eyes to Mommy and Daddy. Cocking her head to one side, Mommy hissed, and Daddy hissed back, lowering his head and poking the red lump with his snout. Tick-tick retreated backwards as Mommy circled around behind Skar, stepping so that Skar was almost in-between her feet. Curious, Skar watched as Daddy bit off a small chunk of the red lump and then held his head close to Skar. The red chunk dangled from between his teeth, and Mommy nudged Skar's back.

The red lump still smelled strange and bad, but it was also making Skar's stomach make noises. Still, she wasn't sure what Daddy and Mommy were trying to do. The three smaller bird-lizards were making puzzled chirping sounds, but Mommy quickly silenced them with a snarl. Her shadow remained over Skar as Daddy set the red piece down in front of Skar. As she watched, he ripped of a piece from the chunk, tipped his head back, and swallowed it. Skar stuck out her tongue and coughed. It smelled bad, why did Daddy put it in his mouth?

Then Mommy nudged her back again, pushing her towards the chunk. Again, Daddy bent down and ripped off a small piece, though this time he offered it to Skar by dangling it right in front of her. Just by looking at it, Skar heard her stomach growl. Wrinkling her nose, she very slowly started to mimic Daddy and Mommy. Lifting herself onto her knees, Skar opened her mouth and craned her head back. After a brief pause, Daddy lowered the red piece into her mouth.

Immediately Skar gagged, but she forced herself to close her mouth around the red. It tasted wet and soggy and rough, but underneath all that, it tasted... well, not as bad as it smelled. Sitting back onto her butt, Skar tentatively started chewing, trying to find the best way to make the red piece smaller. She discovered that it was easier to make it into smaller pieces using her front teeth rather than her back teeth, even though it took longer. After a few minutes of chewing, she finally swallowed it. Some of the empty dizziness went away, and she let out a happy squeak. Daddy seemed to understand what this meant and started tearing off more small chunks for Skar. While she waited, Skar decided on a word for the red stuff - red-eat. It didn't taste the best, but it made her less hungy, so she would eat as much of it as she could.

It stayed like this for a little while - Daddy tearing off chunks of red-eat, Skar stuffing them in her mouth, and Mommy standing over her like a large snarly shadow. When Skar finally felt no more emptiness in her stomach, she stopped eating, and Daddy seemed to understand. He sent a click-growl to Mommy, and she responded with a throaty rasp. Skar tilted her head, wondering what all the sounds meant. Maybe someday she'd understand them. For now... for now she was starting to feel tired. She remembered sleep, and she hadn't gotten any, not in what felt like a long time.

A yawn escaped Skar's lips. Rubbing her palms into her eyes, she craned her head back to look at Mommy and gave a soft squeal. Glancing downwards, Mommy bent over and pushed Skar back towards the bed with her snout. Skar tipped forward and then rocked onto her knees, crawling back into the bed as Mommy pushed her along. Skar was still tentative of the shells, and tried her hardest not to touch them. One side of the bed was mostly free of the shell fragments, and that was where Skar went to lie down. Mommy was standing right overhead, and her breath was hot against Skar's cheek.

This place... it was starting to feel safe again. Mommy was there, and Skar wasn't hungy anymore. Closing her eyes, she smooshed herself into the dirt, squirming into a comfortable position. Mommy started making a soft crooning noise, soft and soothing like the sounds she made on the beach. None of the other bird-lizards made any sounds.

_Safe. Safe feels like this._

Mommy was here and she was safe. Forgetting about the ocean and the cuts on her arms and the bird-lizards that wanted to hurt her, Skar let herself fall asleep.

/-/-/

_She sleeps._

Burnt, Hobble, and Ticker exchanged a glance when they heard Talon speak up. Their alpha had spent several minutes standing over the nest, snout gently touched to Scar's head. Burnt was not yet sure if she was comfortable with her mother's decision to keep the human hatchling, but as she watched Talon hush Scar to sleep, she remembered when she was still a hatchling confined to the nest. Talon often crooned her to sleep when she was restless. If Scar was already asleep... she felt safe with Talon. She was already imprinting on the alpha raptor.

Maybe there was a chance she could become part of the pack after all.

Stepping back from the nest, Talon lifted up her head and rasped, _No one touches her while she sleeps. Not yet._ With narrowed eyes, she added, _Especially you, Quick. Do not challenge me._

_Talon, she was crushing the eggshells!_ Quick protested venomously. Stripes quickly brushed against his mate, trying to console her, but Quick was not so easily swayed from her anger. _She does not belong in our nests, Talon._

Clever started to bristle at Quick's blatant hostility, but Talon snapped at him softly and he calmed. Turning her head to Quick, the alpha raptor hissed, _Those shells are dead, and Scar's presence does not change that. She doesn't know why, but you can see she understood your anger. She left the nest out of fear. She knew their importance. She is already learning. She stays. Do. Not. Challenge. Me._

Talon's words were harsh and uncompromising, and her posture was every bit as rigid as her tone. There would be consequences if Quick continued to disobey the alpha, and if her mate could see that, surely she had to as well. The young gammas understood Quick's pain, but Talon was right. The eggshells meant nothing. They were just scattered fragments of could-have-been hatchlings. Scar was alive and real. She mattered.

Talon was also right about Scar learning. None of the gammas had really expected Scar to eat the prey-flesh, but she did, and by the looks of it she even liked it. That already put her above other humans. Honestly, the raptors didn't know what they ate. But if Scar could eat their prey, hopefully someday when she was bigger and stronger she could hunt it, too. There had to be a way for un-sharp things like humans to hunt, right?

_Scar likes you,_ Hobble murmured with a throaty purr. Ticker hunched forward, shaking his head and neck. Did she like him? If she did, good, but he thought she liked his vocal tic, not him. _You and Talon and Clever,_ Hobble continued, _you make her feel safe. I don't think she likes the rest of us._

_Do you want her to like you?_ Burnt needled.

Hobble flinched away and hissed at the larger gamma. _Yes, yes I do! Talon says she belongs in the pack now, that makes her our sibling. You should want her to like us, too! Unless you want to kill her like the betas do!_

A cutthroat snarl whipped past Burnt's fangs, and she stepped uncomfortably close to Hobble, looming over him and forcing him into a submissive pose. _I'm not stupid, Hobble,_ she hissed sharply, _I __**won't**__ disobey my mother, but I can still think my own thoughts, can't I? Or do I have to choose - think like Quick and Stripes or think like Talon and Clever? Kill Scar or love her? I should be able to pick neither!_

Ticker could see Burnt's aggression mounting, and he was starting to get worried that she might lash out at Hobble. Despite being Talon's descendant, in some ways Burnt was a lot like the betas. She felt she had something to prove. Ticker didn't really blame her - when they were hatchlings Burnt left the nest when she wasn't supposed to and was caught in the brush fire. If she'd stayed at the nest she would've been fine, but she'd been wounded, and two other hatchlings died. Hobble was the same way, but he was just grateful he was accepted into the pack, and he never tried to jeopardize that by acting out.

Burnt, on the other hand...

_I don't know what I think of Scar! I don't know! Maybe keeping her is a bad idea, maybe it isn't, I don't know! All I know is I don't like it!_

A guttural growl split the air and overpowered Burnt's increasingly irate snarls. All three of the gammas cringed as Talon's voice rammed against their ears. _That is enough!_ she snarled. _Leave Hobble alone, Burnt. Do not be angry with him for trying to accept change. All of you will have to learn to adjust eventually. For now, if you can't accept Scar, ignore her. She will find her place in this pack. I expect you to find a place in your heart for her as well._

Bitterness seeped away from Burnt's body language, but she quieted and gave no response save for a submissive bob of the head. Hobble glanced at Ticker, who could only tilt his head. He wasn't sure what to make of what was happening, either. With Burnt frustrated and confused to the point of lashing out against her siblings, and the betas still at odds with Talon... Ticker quietly appreciated the fact that at least he seemed to be doing something right. Scar liked him. That was good.

And now she was asleep... she'd fallen asleep so easily. Out of everyone in the pack, she seemed to be adjusting the best. She clearly believed that she was safe with Talon, that this place was home. Perhaps she truly was starting to think of Talon as her mother. Didn't that already put her on the path to becoming a raptor?

Ticker weighed his thoughts heavily. First Scar must feel safe. Then she must eat prey-flesh. Then she must learn to speak, and run, and hunt. But she had to grow before she could do that. How quickly could Scar grow? Humans were strange. Ticker had a feeling it would take a lot longer for Scar to grow than it would for a raptor. If she survived that long, at least.

The pack was settling down now. Talon and Clever were not leaving the center nest. Talon was circling, head lowered to keep close watch over Scar as she slept. The betas retreated to their own nest, to mourn and to let their anger fester. In the corner of his eye, Ticker saw Burnt nudge Hobble's side, a gesture of apology. He accepted it with a gentle nip on her neck. All the young raptors were pack-siblings. Burnt and Hobble would get over their spat soon. Ticker, for his part, was more concerned for their newest pack-sister.

_We have lost so many unborn hatchlings. So many._

He stepped closer to the nest. Clever noticed, but made no move to stop Ticker. By now Talon had laid down outside the nest, her head resting next to Scar. The human hatchling was so tiny, but Ticker could still watch the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed. Her claw-less hands dug into the dirt, and her strange second-skin was so torn that Ticker could see most of Scar's pale, easily damaged skin.

Ticker paused by the nest and flattened himself down to the ground, joining Talon in her vigil of watching the sleeping hatchling. The night would come soon enough, and the pack would likely stay in the nest rather than hunt again. This day had been exhausting on many different levels. None of the raptors really wanted to do anything but stay in the nest and try to sort through their mixed feelings.

Ticker's opinion was simple enough.

_I'll help her learn, _he rasped softly. Talon's eyes wandered over to him and he continued, _I'll help her learn to run, to stay quiet, to fade into the trees. I can help teach her to be one of us._

_Good, _the alpha hissed in reply.

Ticker let out a soft purr. _I want her to live, Talon. I know you lost hatchlings, but Hobble and Burnt and I lost unborn brothers, sisters. Maybe they don't know it, but I think they also want Scar to live. She feels safe here, with us. I don't want her to not feel safe. I don't want her to be scared._

It was Clever whose clicking voice reached Ticker's ears now. _Then protect her, Ticker. You and Hobble and Burnt... protect Scar. She is the only one who will determine if she is worthy of being part of this pack, but she is like all hatchlings. Weak, defenseless. Protect her until she is strong enough to become a raptor in her own right._

_We will. I promise._


End file.
